


A Walk to Remember

by queenofhunter93



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Female Do Kyungsoo | D.O, Female Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao, Female Kim Jongdae | Chen, Female Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Female Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Female Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24507904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofhunter93/pseuds/queenofhunter93
Summary: He has never seen her in this light before. Not that he minded.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Oh Sehun, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han, Park Chanyeol/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from my livejournal.

For the first time in his life, Kris Wu had regretted doing something in his life. Not that he would admit that out loud.

Kris was the type of person who would do things and not regret them, be it good or bad. When he was in sixth grade, he never regretted taking a risk in a basketball game and it gained his school the championship title. When he was in eighth grade, he never regretted making a fool out of himself in front of the whole school just to get the attention of a girl he really liked. The girl might not accept his feelings, but he was satisfied.

When his mother left him and his father when he was in ninth grade, he never regretted cursing at her as she walked out the door and out of his life. When his father decided to send him to a high school in Seoul while his father stayed in Guangzhou to continue working as an oncologist, he never regretted throwing a brick to his father’s very expensive Lamborghini and breaking the front _and_ the back window. When he was running for student council president, he never regretted threatening the “weaker” part of the student body to get votes.

But for once, after a simple prank that had sent a student named Byun Baekhyun to a hospital (he just wanted to scare the kid a little, he didn’t know that he would slip on the puddle in the bathroom and hit his head on the sink. Maybe he shouldn’t have done it in the bathroom), he regretted it, because now he had to spend every day after school at the drama club, helping them with decorations for the annual spring festival.

You would think he would be glad to help out the drama club, considering he was the student council president, but no. All he wanted from his position as the president was the power over the student body, which was exactly what he got. Being extremely handsome (people’s words, not his) also helped that because he could easily get away with anything with the teachers here with only a small smile.

But that didn’t work on Byun Baekhyun’s parents. Kris kind of forgotten that Baekhyun was the son of one of the biggest donators of the school, and thus, technically, had a bigger power over the PTA than he did. So when the PTA wanted to fire him from his position as the student council, he did everything in him to stop them. And it worked, in a way. They decided to force him to volunteer at the drama club until they were done preparing for the festival, and if he refused, he would not only be fired from the student council, but he would also be suspended for two weeks.

The thing was that there was a reason why the drama club had so little volunteers: it was _lame_. Out of all the clubs in the school, the drama club got the least funding because it wasn’t a competition club. Even the glee club had more funding than them and glee club was lame, so that meant that the drama club was even lamer than glee club. The interesting part was that most of the glee club kids are drama club kids: Kim Junghae, Do Kyungmi, and Byun Baekhyun (well, before he was hospitalized). There was also one other girl that Kris couldn’t remember…

“Kris Wu-sshi?”

Kris, who was just hanging in front of the auditorium door, was broken out of his daydream when a soft voice called him out. When he looked to his front, he couldn’t find anyone, and he frowned.

“Down here,” the voice said from below him, a trace of laughter in her voice. Kris looked down and his breath was caught. She was quite possibly the cutest girl he had ever seen in his life, and he was damn sure that she didn’t come to this school; otherwise he would’ve taken claim on her already, “Kris-sshi?”

“Uh… sorry,” Kris said as he rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit.

“It’s okay. Come in,” the girl said as she walked into the auditorium, with Kris following close behind her, “I’m so glad someone as big as you volunteered! It’s been hell trying to put up some decorations up high. It’s only us girls, and Baekhyun was the only guy we had, and well… let’s face it, he wasn’t particularly tall,” she said with a small laugh, then she sighed, “And now that he’s in a hospital…”

The guilt that Kris felt was doubled now that he saw the girl’s saddened expression.

“So there are six of us girls and Baekhyun, but sometimes Meitao’s boyfriend comes and helps us out. And her boyfriend’s really tall, so it kinda helped, but Meitao’s quite busy with wushu practice, so if she’s not here, her boyfriend wouldn’t be here as well…”

“Meitao? Huang Meitao?”

“Yeah! Do you know her?”

“She’s dating my brother. Sehun, isn’t she?” Oh Sehun – or Wu Shixun – was Kris’ younger brother by two years, and he came to Seoul under his father’s orders to get him to go back to Guangzhou so that the three of them could live together again.

“You’re Sehun’s brother? No wonder you guys look alike!” she said with a very bright smile. Kris was proud of himself for putting that kind of smile on her face, “Sometimes there’s a kid from the soccer club that has a crush on Minseon that comes by to help just to get on her good side…” _That must be Luhan_ , Kris thought, “and my brother Jongin sometimes comes in to help me. Well, he helped Kyungmi more times than he helped me, though.”

“…wait, what? You’re Kim Jongin’s noona? Kim Jongin from the basketball and dance club? I thought Junghae was his noona.”

The girl laughed, “Jongin can have more than one noona, you know.”

“I only know Junghae…”

“Ouch,” the girl said with a pout, “he never told you about me? I’m gonna talk to him when he picks me up later,” she said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Kris tried not to look at that direction.

“I think he mentioned having another sister, but I don’t think I remember… I have a bad memory, sorry.”

The girl grinned and uncrossed her arms, “it’s okay! I can understand if he’s ashamed of me or something…”

“Why would he?” seriously, why would Jongin keep one of his sisters a secret?

“I embarrass him a lot. I remember when he had just entered high school, I forced him to bring a lunchbox from home and he got tormented by the other kids,” she said with a sheepish smile, “this was before he entered the basketball and the dance clubs, of course. In fact, he entered the basketball team because he remembered the guy that stopped the bullies was from the basketball team.”

Kris remembered that. He was the one who stopped the other kids from bullying Kim Jongin. But that was only one of his many acts of kindness that he did to gain sympathy from the students to get votes. He didn’t know he would inspire someone to enter the basketball team, much less Kim Jongin. He was a very good team player.

“I think that’s why he didn’t tell anyone that I’m his sister. It didn’t help that my reputation is pretty much nonexistent in the school.”

“Are you sure? You’re… very pretty, if I may say so myself.”

When the girl blushed, Kris did a mental fist pump, “It’s just that I’m not wearing my glasses right now and my hair’s not in braids.”

“What?”

“I haven’t introduced myself, have I?” she said as she extended her hand, “I’m Kim Junhee, the other kids dubbed me the leader of the drama club. Pleased to meet you, Kris-sshi.”

No way.

This beautiful girl could not possibly be Kim Junhee, the resident nerd. Since the first year, no one had ever seen her hair unbraided. She was always wearing a pair of very old looking, thick rimmed glasses, and she never wore any make-up to school. She was always dressed appropriately, never showing any kind of skin except for her face or her hands. The most inappropriate thing she ever wore was what she was wearing now, in front of Kris: a pair of skinny jeans and a short sleeved t-shirt that fit _all too well_ with her body.

“You-you’re…”

“I know, shocking, right?” Junhee said with a wink, “what I usually wear to school is way too uncomfortable to wear during club activities. I sweat more at drama club than in class. You don’t wanna know how hot it is being trapped in the middle of sweaty people wearing a long skirt and button-up shirt, trust me.”

“Why don’t you wear this to school, then?”

“Are you kidding me? It attracts too much attention. I don’t like being the center of attention. I’m content with being the nerd; it takes the attention off of me and directs them towards the likes of you.”

“’The likes of me’?”

“You know… the people who like attention more than school. People who came to school just to flaunt their power over things. You think I don’t know why you wanted to be the student council president so badly?”

“Wha…?”

“You’re so easy to read, Kris Wu,” Junhee said with a wicked smile on her face, “when I heard that you’re going to help out around here, you don’t know how happy I was. What’s the word for someone who can tell the person with the most power at school around?” she asked as she walked away from him.

It was official. Kim Junhee was more intimidating that he thought she could be.

***

The days Kris usually spent slacking off from his student council president duty after school or playing basketball with the club were now filled with frequent visits to the auditorium, being bossed around by a girl who was around two feet shorter than him and looking nothing like the girl he usually saw in the school halls.

He was Kim Junhee’s bitch, and he could tell that she was having the time of her life every time she opened her mouth. He didn’t know a girl who looked so sweet and innocent could be so controlling and demanding. Kris could tell that Junhee didn’t like him much – that was polite; she _hated_ him. He was just glad that none of his friends were in the vicinity when he was being ordered around by the – really hot – nerd.

He was not so lucky that day.

“Kris, go put this up there,” Junhee told him one day without even looking at him. He took the strings of light that Junhee handed him and walked sulkily over to the ladder near the entrance of the auditorium. When he reached the ladder, the door opened.

“Kris?” Luhan asked as Sehun and Jongin followed.

“What the hell are you guys doing here?”

“Oh, right… I forgot that you were forced to volunteer if you wanted to keep your position in the student council…” Luhan said.

“You didn’t answer me!”

“Hun-ah!” said a voice from behind Kris. Before he could turn around, a gust of wind went through him and his brother’s arms were now full of a tall, Chinese girl.

“M-Meitao…” Sehun said with an uncharacteristic blush on his face, making Kris smirk at his brother.

“God, you see each other all the time, Huang,” Jongin said as he shook his head.

“You’re just jealous that Kyungmi-unnie doesn’t give you the attention I give Hunnie,” Meitao said while sticking her tongue out at Jongin.

“Shut up!”

“Kris!! Are you slacking off?!” Kris winced at Junhee’s shriek, and he heard the stomp of feet approaching him. When he turned around, Junhee’s hand had already reached his ear.

“Ow!”

“Get the freaking lights up!” Junhee said as she pulled on Kris’ ear.

“Okay, okay, stop pulling my ear!” Kris said. Junhee stopped pulling his ear and stomped away in a huff. Kris rubbed his ear and heard a snicker from behind him.

“When did you become my noona’s bitch, Duìzhǎng?” Jongin asked, using his nickname that meant ‘captain’ since he was the captain of the basketball team.

“Shut up!” Kris shouted. When he felt Junhee’s glare behind his back, he lowered his voice, “your noona’s super scary,” he said. Jongin laughed.

“She doesn’t like you very much,” Jongin said bluntly, “she’s actually one of the few people who didn’t choose anyone when we were choosing the student council president.”

“Not to mention you actually pranked her sister’s boyfriend to hospitalization,” Meitao added.

“Huh?”

“Baekhyun-oppa is Junghae-unnie’s boyfriend. Junghae-unnie and Baekhyun-oppa were supposed to be the leads for the play, but now that Baekhyun-oppa’s in the hospital, Junghae-unnie refused to play. Junhee-unnie’s kinda stumped right now,” Meitao explained, “She offered Kyungmi-unnie the role but she knew how jealous this little jerk could be,” she said as she smirked at Jongin, to which Jongin stuck his tongue out at her, “I kept telling Junhee-unnie that she should play the role herself, but she refused. I don’t understand why; I heard she’s a really great actress.”

Kris opened his mouth in sudden realization. No wonder she hated him so much.

“And then she offered Minseon-unnie and Yixue-jiě the role but they refused because they’re both too shy,” Meitao said. Kris looked at Junhee, who didn’t seem troubled at all.

“Why don’t you do it, then?” Sehun asked.

“I don’t wanna do it unless you do it with me.”

“Well, I don’t wanna do it!”

“Then, are you saying that you don’t mind seeing me with another boy?”

“Why not? I trust you,” Kris shook his head. His brother was really good at that.

“Aw, Hunnie!” Meitao said before kissing Sehun.

“Alright, break it up! Boys, if you’re all just gonna stand there and watch, just leave!” Junhee said as she suddenly appeared right next to Kris. She was so small and so quiet that he didn’t know when she reached his side, “I still haven’t seen those lights up there, Wu, so get to it!”

Kim Junhee was fucking scary.

***

A couple of days had passed with Kris being bossed around by Junhee and being made fun of by his friends. At some point, one of his team members, Chanyeol, came in to the auditorium claiming that he was there to ‘save the day’ and started helping – specifically Yixue – out (Kris figured it had something to do with Jongin inviting Chanyeol to the dance practice and the taller male meeting Yixue, who was on the girls’ dance team, for the first time. Kris could tell that Jongin really wanted to help his noona).

Even though it was strange to say, he was actually getting quite used to coming to the auditorium after the last school bell rung. When he arrived at the auditorium on Wednesday, he finally saw the final product of what Junhee really wanted for the set. And it was gorgeous.

“Oh, Kris,” he heard Junhee say. He approached her and was quite surprised to be greeted by the smile he got on the first day he started ‘volunteering,’ “Look. It looks kinda good, doesn’t it?” she asked as she gestured towards the stage.

“It looks awesome,” he said honestly. She looked at the stage with quite a sad smile on her face.

“It’s not gonna worth anything if we don’t find a lead for the play, though.”

“I heard that from Meitao. I’m sorry, by the way,” she waved her hand and clicked her tongue as if it didn’t matter, but somehow Kris knew better.

“You made up for it. You didn’t know anyway. But now your punishment is done. I think it’s gonna be okay if you stop coming here. I’ll tell the principal to take the punishment off of you and put in a good word for you,” Junhee said. For some reason, those words stung him.

“You still haven’t found the replacements yet?” Kris abruptly changed the subject.

“No. It’s not like people are jumping at the chance to be involved with the drama club. I know how lame we are,” she said. Kris made no comment on that.

“What is the play anyway?”

“Sleeping Beauty. Baekhyun and Junghae really pushed that story,” she said with a chuckle, “said that it was the first Disney movie they’ve ever watched together. That’s why they’re the leads, and they were actually the only cast we had. We haven’t casted other roles yet.”

“That’s kinda…”

“Boring, right? I know. I tried to modernize it, so I hope it would help. I changed the setting from a kingdom to a _chaebol_ family. The fairies are changed into maids. Aurora went into a coma because of a car accident caused by an evil stepmother instead of falling into a deep sleep because she pricked her finger on a spindle. I took out all the singing parts because I didn’t think anyone could surpass Baekhyun and Junghae’s voices.”

“…that’s not Sleeping Beauty.”

“It’s not. It’s a _modernized_ version of Sleeping Beauty. Inspired by Sleeping Beauty, if you will.”

“She’s not even a ‘sleeping’ beauty!” Kris said with air-quotes.

“She is! She’s in a coma! People in a coma are technically in a deep sleep… I think.”

“And she’s woken up by a true love’s kiss?” Kris asked with a teasing tone. He really liked it when he could make fun of the girl that terrorized him when he was forced to help her out.

“Well, because it’s modernized, I’d like to think that she just _happens_ to wake up when Phillip kisses her.”

“Who’s Phillip?”

“The prince! God, you don’t know your Disney, do you?”

“Oh…” Kris said as he nodded. Then he realized… “Wait, you wrote the script?”

Junhee sighed, “I did. It was done. But without Aurora and Phillip, all of the hard work that we’ve done would be for nothing.”

“…why don’t you be Aurora?”

“No. I don’t act,” Junhee said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Meitao said that she heard you’re a great actress.”

“She’s just spouting nonsense. Don’t mind her.”

“You said it yourself. No one is jumping at the chance to be involved with the drama club. Your members won’t take the role. Who else can do it except you?”

“…”

“…I’ll take the prince role, if you don’t mind.”

“Huh?”

“Do you have other candidates in mind?” Kris asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well… my cousin is a great actor, but he doesn’t wanna act with a girl…”

“There you go, then. I bet the prince doesn’t have a lot of lines, right? I’m bad at remembering things.”

“Wait… are you serious?” Junhee eyed him skeptically.

“On one condition,” Kris said as he looked deep into Junhee’s eyes, “I’ll be the prince as long as you’re my sleeping beauty.”

He could see her considering his offer. Kris knew that she knew he was right. No one would want to voluntarily involve themselves with the drama club. Even if they held auditions, he was sure that no one would come to audition. He knew Junhee needed this. He smiled internally when she smiled at him.

“…on one condition.”

“Name it,” Kris said.

“…don’t fall in love with me.”

***

Kris didn’t know that drama club could be so – _gulp_ – fun. Casting the other roles was fun and after the roles were filled, they started rehearsals. The first time he read his lines, he almost wanted to curl up because it was so cheesy. Junhee had to hit his head a couple of times because he kept groaning after he finished delivering his lines.

“You brought this upon yourself, don’t you dare complain,” she said to him one day. She was right, of course. He didn’t have to volunteer to take part in the play, but he did anyway. He still didn’t know why he did that. He should’ve taken the chance to run away as far as he could from the drama club after he knew the decorations and the sets were done, but he had to go and volunteer himself like that. Why?

For all his friends knew, he was still being punished. They didn’t come by the auditorium as often because the decorations and sets were done and they only came over to pick their respective loved ones – even the unrequited ones – up (“I can’t believe you came here to pick up _Kyungmi_ and not your sisters. What kind of brother are you?!” Junghae complained one day). When they came around, the rehearsals were done and they didn’t get to see him act. Kris would do everything in his power so that none of his friends ever see him act.

So Kris would like to think that even without him saying anything about it, he would like it if Junhee didn’t say anything about the play to him outside of the drama club activities. But of course, it didn’t work that way

“Kris!” Junhee had stopped calling him with honorifics and resorted to calling him by his nickname alone, since they were on the same grade. She called him on lunch time, when he was surrounded by his friends, “do you wanna work on some lines with me after lunch is done? I’ve got free period after this, and I know you do too.”

Kris could feel the stares of his friends around him. Some of the people he got with him right then were not people who were in Junhee’s circle of acquaintances, and they were total jerks, even in Kris’ eyes. But for some unfathomable reason, Kris suddenly felt scared – of what, he couldn’t tell.

Before he could even stop himself, the words came out of his mouth involuntarily, “In your dreams.”

His friends started laughing at her when her face fell, and they started high fiving each other after she ran off. Kris didn’t bother to respond to any of them when he saw her backside as she ran away from them. He could feel Jongin’s glare from behind him, and he wanted to glare at himself as well. Again, Kris had done something he regretted.

Looking around at the people he had called friends who were currently laughing at the girl he was damn sure he liked more than he thought he would, he wouldn’t be able find the jerk unless he looked in the mirror. He caught Jongin glaring at him, and he saw Sehun looking at him as if he was wondering what was wrong with his older brother. He then looked at Chanyeol, and he could see him mouthing ‘go’ at him and he nodded. At least he could tell who his real friends were.

He ignored the calls of his so-called “friends” as he ran off towards the direction he saw Junhee ran to. When he arrived at a crossroad, he took a guess, turned left, and hoped to God his guess was right. He opened the door to the auditorium and, luckily, found Junhee, walking on the stage, looking up at the lights that Kris had worked so hard on putting up. Before he could call out to her, however…

“ _God! It’s my 17th birthday, but my aunts won’t even let me celebrate! But… then again, I have no friends to celebrate with…_ ” Junhee – or _Aurora_ – said as she walked around the stage, her arms crossed in front of her chest, pouting, “ _If I had friends… I’d invite them home and we can celebrate my birthday together. I mean, my house isn’t much, but it’s home. It sure would beat celebrating your sweet seventeen with your aunts._ ”

After those lines, Kris – or Phillip – should come out on the stage and laugh at her for talking with herself. Kris walked towards the stage with determination, and chuckled, “ _Are you crazy or something?_ ”

He could see that Junhee was shocked, as should Aurora in the play. She seemed genuinely shocked, though, but she didn’t falter, “ _E-Excuse me, but it’s not nice to eavesdrop on someone’s conversation._ ”

Kris – _Phillip_ – smirked, “ _And who were you talking to?_ ”

“ _Myself, of course! It’s even ruder to interrupt someone when they’re having a conversation with themselves!_ ”

Phillip shook his head, “ _You’re a weird girl…_ ”

“ _W-What are you even doing here in the woods, anyway?_ ” Aurora asked as she walked away from him.

Phillip followed behind her, “ _I should ask you the same thing. It’s not safe for a little girl like you to wander in the woods on your own, isn’t it?_ ”

Aurora turned around to glare at him, “ _I’m not a little girl! I’m turning seventeen today, if you must know!_ ”

“ _Well, happy birthday to you, but you didn’t answer my question._ ”

“ _Neither did you!_ ”

“ _I was just walking around. Your turn._ ”

“ _W-Well, my aunts told me to leave the house until afternoon, so I did._ ”

“ _Your aunts are definitely preparing a surprise for you._ ”

“ _Really? How did you know?_ ”

“ _How did I know? It’s obvious! Have you never prepared a surprise birthday party for anyone?_ ”

Aurora looked down at her feet and said, “ _…no. The only friends I got are my aunts, and I’ve never even prepared them a surprise birthday party because I don’t know when their birthdays are._ ”

“ _You’re a really bad niece,_ ” Phillip said with a smirk.

Aurora looked up to glare at him again, “ _Well, you’re a… really… bad person!_ ”

“ _Yeah, and that’s a really nice comeback,_ ” Phillip said. He looked shocked when she looked back down to the ground and let out a deep sigh. He was expecting another comeback, but it didn’t come. He sighed and said, “ _Tell me where you live._ ”

Aurora looked back up and looked at him skeptically, “ _Why would you wanna know where I live?_ ”

“ _So I can come to your birthday party. Come on, tell me._ ”

Aurora’s eyes started to shine in happiness, and she said, “ _Really?!_ ”

Phillip tried to look nonchalant, but he was smiling when he said, “ _Just tell me before I change my mind._ ”

Aurora ran up to him and hugged him tightly, “ _Thank you!_ ” Phillip stood shell shocked, but a second later, he smiled at her and he patted her head. She broke out of her reverie and moved to get Phillip out of her grip and she said, “ _S-Sorry._ ”

Phillip – no, _Kris_ – held her in his arms, trying to stop her from getting away from him. Aurora – Junhee – looked up to him in confusion, and she looked really adorable, Kris really couldn’t help himself.

He leaned down and let his lips fall upon hers. He could feel her stiffen in his arms, but he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when she sagged against him and kissed him back. But not three seconds later, she pulled away with a gasp and pushed his chest, hard. He let her go and they both were out of breath when the kiss was over. Junhee had the back of her left hand on her lips. Kris didn’t dare to say anything to her.

“…that wasn’t in the script,” Junhee whispered before she bolted out of the room.

Kris, once again, could only watch her go. He sat and laid down on the stage, and then he screamed in frustration.

He took one step forward but had to take two steps back.

***

Ever since Kris kissed Junhee, he saw her at rehearsals, but that was that. They didn’t banter like they used to nor did they practice together. Junhee seemed to have avoided him, but at the same time, Kris was also avoiding her. Kris knew he had to apologize for his friends’ and his behavior, but he did not regret that kiss at all. Maybe he should also apologize for not holding up his end of the bargain.

“ _Don’t fall in love with me,_ ” she said. At first he thought that she was extremely full of herself for thinking that someone like Kris might fall in love with her. But now, he understood how hard it was to actually keep him from falling in love with her. She was everything that Kris didn’t think he needed and more. She managed to pull him down from his high pedestal and now he could clearly see how much of a jerk he was.

After his friends found out that he was involved in the play (one of the leads, no less), he was happy and frankly not surprised to find them understanding. They even said that they had always known that Kris was taking the role (“Why would you be in the auditorium when all the sets and the decorations are all made? You underestimated us, gē,” Sehun had said, “Besides, Meitao told me.”)

Now that his friends knew he was supposed to act, he asked – nay, _begged_ – his friends to help him practice. Without Junhee directing him or telling him what he lacked, he was running blind. Except for Jongin, and Kris understood why. He was still mad that Kris had treated his noona badly. He told him that he would start talking with him again when Kris finally apologized to his noona.

“She seemed really shaken when she came back from school after that day,” Jongin had told him, “Duìzhǎng, I really respect you. But it’s really hard for me to treat the people who messed with my noona well. I’ll still come to basketball practice, but I won’t talk to you until you properly apologize to Junhee-noona.”

Kris had no heart in him to tell the youngest Kim that his noona was not shaken because his so-called “friends” had made fun of her. He knew that Jongin would be even madder if he knew what he had done.

He still didn’t understand why. Why shouldn’t he fall in love with Junhee? For the first time in his life, he was actually genuinely interested in someone who didn’t deliberately try to get his attention. It was actually his first time being genuinely interested in someone, period. She had intrigued him, and it was a first for him.

When Kris finally saw Junhee at the day of the play, he thought he was prepared to see her in her costume, but he apparently he was not. She looked extremely breathtaking, and he was not the only one who was stunned by her beauty. From the side stage, he could see that not only fellow students, but teachers looked amazed by her. And Meitao definitely was not spouting nonsense; Junhee was an exceptional actress.

She looked a little hesitant when Kris finally made his entrance. Maybe she thought he would kiss her again. But Kris promised himself that he would hold back, even when his determination wavered the second he saw how beautiful she was. They finished their first scene without any setbacks.

But when Kris saw Junhee lying so lifelessly on top of a makeshift hospital bed, Kris couldn’t hold it in anymore. When Phillip begged for Aurora to wake up, Kris meant it. He didn’t like seeing Junhee so vulnerable. He couldn’t help himself but kiss her for real, for twice the length of time he was supposed to, and then he pulled away.

After the play was done and they had done their curtain calls, Kris took his costume off and changed into his normal clothes and went on a mission to find Junhee. He needed to apologize to her now before he chickened out. He managed to find her in front of the auditorium doors, talking with her siblings. He waited until she was done, and he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the slowly emptying auditorium. She was going to hear his apology, one way or another.

“Let go!” Junhee said as she forcefully pulled her hand away from his grasp. Kris let her go, “What do you want from me?”

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I was such a douche to you and I’m sorry I humiliated you in front of those assholes I can’t believe I once called friends. But I will never apologize for kissing you,” Kris said. He could see that she was taken aback by his statement, “I will never regret kissing you. I will also never apologize for not holding up my end of the bargain.”

Junhee looked confused, “What bargain? I don’t remember making any deals with you.”

“I told you I’ll take the prince role as long as you’re the princess, and you told me you’ll be the princess as long as I don’t fall in love with you,” Kris said. Junhee’s eyes told him that she remembered the deal, “I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry for falling for you. I love you, Kim Junhee, and I’m not afraid to show it.”

Junhee looked conflicted. He was waiting with bated breath for her reply. Somehow, he knew she was going to say what she said, but his knowledge didn’t stop him from hurting.

“I’m so sorry, Kris…”


	2. Chapter 2

One thing that Kris knew was both his strength and weakness was his stubbornness.

He won a basketball tournament once because he told himself and the coach that the sprain in his ankle was nothing to be worried about. He got his position at the student council because he kept pushing people into helping him. He once gained a girlfriend for quite a long time because he didn’t stop chasing her even though she told him to. He had a pretty peaceful life because even though his father kept pushing him to contact his mother, he stood his ground and didn’t.

This time, he was going to use this particular trait of his to his advantage. He asked Meitao, who was fluent in flower language since her parents owned a florist, to give him advice on how to express his feelings through flowers. Initially, if she was to refuse, he was going to force her to do it for him, but after he told her how he really felt for Junhee, she became emotional and forced _him_ to accept her help (and then he left the premises because she started to cry on his brother’s shoulder. Awkward.)

He just hoped that she was not allergic to flowers.

He put one flower in Junhee’s locker every morning. He came to school the first thing in the morning so that no one would see him with a flower. Because he decided that red rose was too obvious, he opted for a red tulip on the first day, which meant a declaration of love. He saw that she gave no reaction when she saw the flower in her locker. But she took it and brought it with her all day long, which was a good start, in Kris’ opinion.

He got smacked in the head by Meitao (and thanked God he was still alive) when he told her he wanted a flower that meant perfection. She told him that particular flower was very hard to find and he would have to pay more money than he thought he should ever pay for one lousy flower. As a compromise, Meitao managed to find a pink camellia hair pin (“it also means ‘I’m longing for you,’ Meitao said cheekily) and Kris was glad to see that Junhee wore the clip on her hair all day long.

After a week of various flowers (calla lily for beauty, a purple stock flower for ‘you’ll always be beautiful to me’) and getting no positive response from Junhee, Kris was starting to lose hope. He told Meitao to give Junhee three specific flowers; a full bloom red rose for ‘I love you’, a jonquil for ‘love me’, and a stork of purple gladiolus flowers for ‘give me a break, I’m really sincere.’ He also added a note that said to ‘meet me in the auditorium on your free period.’

So there Kris was, sitting in the middle of the stage in the auditorium, waiting for Junhee. The auditorium felt kinda spacious now that there were no sets in it. He remembered the first time he saw Junhee, how different she was than what he had thought of her. How bossy she was, how loud her shrill voice was when she yelled at him, how she actually praised him when he did a good job… how soft her lips were.

He was broken out of his daydream when his phone went off. He looked at the photo message that went up in the school’s LINE group (yes, starting from his year, he made it mandatory for the students to have LINE and be in the school’s group to make it easier for him to make announcements) and widened his eyes.

It was a photo of Junhee. Clad in nothing but bright red lingerie. It was quite clear that it was edited, but it was still inappropriate.

When he saw who uploaded it, he saw red. He ran out of the auditorium to the halls and saw that everyone was looking at their phones and laughing or looking scandalized. He ran down the hallway and looked everywhere he could see. When he saw Junhee being surrounded by a couple of boys he once called friends and a couple of cheerleading girls, he ran towards her.

He could hear them mocking her. He could see her looking down at her feet, and he didn’t know how, but he knew she was crying. He gritted his teeth.

“YAH!” Kris screamed. Everyone’s eyes went to look at him, and the hallway turned quiet.

“Oh, Kris! Have you seen the picture? Apparently the nerd isn’t so nerdy after all!” one of the boys said. Clearly, he wasn’t aware of the fumes that came out of Kris’ ears. Kris paid him no attention as he grabbed Junhee and pulled her to stand behind him.

“Kris…” he could hear Junhee call his name, but he didn’t care.

“Listen to me,” Kris said, in the most authoritative tone he could muster, “If I find any of you spreading that photo outside of this school, I _will_ make sure that you drop out of school. Hell, if I find any of you still in possession of that photo, I’ll make sure that the principal knows,” Kris said. He narrowed his eyes, “and if I find the person who is responsible of editing that photo, I will _end_ your life.”

He ended it at that and he put his arm around Junhee’s shoulder, walking her towards the auditorium. As they walked down the hallway, he could hear people whispering things, but he honestly didn’t care. Junhee was still crying, and it seemed that she didn’t know who was walking beside her or maybe she didn’t care because she didn’t fight him.

When they entered the auditorium, Kris made sure to lock the doors that led to the auditorium so that they wouldn’t be disturbed. Kris walked towards the stage, jumped so he sat on the edge of the stage, and waited for Junhee, who stood still in front of the auditorium door they entered from. From her shaking shoulders, he figured she was still crying.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find out who did this and let them get what they deserve. I promise,” Kris said. He honestly didn’t know what to say. He could only watch her back as she cried. Never in his life had he felt so powerless.

“…why?”

“Huh?”

“Why would you do that in front of everyone at school? Are you crazy?” Junhee asked as she turned around to look at him.

“Didn’t you understand the meaning of any of the flowers I sent you every morning? Or did you not hear what I said after the play was done?” Kris asked her. She blushed and looked away. Kris patted the spot beside him and said, “come here,” and was pleasantly surprised to see Junhee complying without complaining.

He reached for his pocket and handed Junhee a pressed red carnation, “here. You like books, don’t you? You can use this as a bookmark if you like.”

“What does this one mean?” Junhee asked.

Kris hesitated as he blushed. It was different than simply giving her a flower and having her find out the meaning herself. Now that he had to tell her what the meaning of the flower himself, he was getting embarrassed.

“…’my heart aches for you,’” he said with a blush on his cheeks, looking down to his lap. This was the first time he felt so embarrassed with what he had said and done that he couldn’t look into his companion’s eyes. But then he saw her hand putting the pressed flower on top of his lap. His heart might have broken a little.

“Do you know what a solid-colored carnation means?” Junhee asked suddenly. He could only shake his head. He could feel her hesitating slightly beside him, “…yes.”

“Huh?” Kris asked as he looked at his left, where Junhee was looking down to her lap. Did he hear correctly?”

“It means yes. I heard you loud and clear when you said you love me back then. I asked Meitao what the meaning of the flower was every time I got one from you. I still wear the camellia hair pin you gave me… I’m scared, but after seeing how stubborn you are, I’m willing to try this out,” Junhee said.

“Can I ask you something first?” Kris asked. She nodded, “why were you so adamant on rejecting me?”

He could see her biting her lower lip. When she released her lip, she said, “I’ll tell you one day, but not now. Just trust me.”

And that was what Kris planned to do.

***

Kris could feel the change in the air as he walked down the halls of the school with Junhee wrapped in one of his arms. People looked at them strangely, but none of them dared to comment. Kris liked it that way. He walked Junhee to her locker (not without complaints from the girl) and then he walked her to her first class before dashing towards his own locker and arrived at his first class by the skin of his teeth.

Kris didn’t dare to go farther than holding hands and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. The farthest he could go was to hug her, but only for a second. He couldn’t afford to lose her again. Somehow, Junhee caught onto his hesitation.

“Can you come over after school?” Junhee asked him after lunch a month after they started dating. Kris could only nod because he was too surprised by the offer. He didn’t mind it, even though that meant that he had to drop Junghae off at the hospital so she could visit Baekhyun and take Kyungmi home first for Jongin to score some points off of her. At first, Kris couldn’t understand why Jongin kept trying to get Kyungmi’s attention while she was obviously not interested in him, but after going through it himself, he could only cheer on him from the sidelines because he understood how it felt being head over heels for someone.

The Kim family house was not what Kris was expecting. He heard rumors that the Kim siblings were rich, but he didn’t know that it was real and that they were this rich. They lived in a house as big as a mansion in Apgujeong-dong, but compared to the other houses around the Kim family house, the other houses were much bigger than theirs. The other thing that Kris was surprised about was the lack of housekeeper in the Kim family house.

“Oh, we wake up super early on weekends and we distribute the chores among ourselves to clean the house. It was tiring, but it was a great time to spend with your family,” Junhee explained as she walked into the house. Jongin made his way to what Kris saw was a huge kitchen and he saw the younger boy take a deep gulp from a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. He figured Jongin would rather be left alone, leaving him with no choice but to follow Junhee.

When he realized that Junhee was about to enter a room that presumably was hers (if the sign with her name on it in front of the door was any implication), he hesitated in his steps. Junhee seemed to notice because before she opened the door to her room, she turned around.

“It’s okay, you can come in,” Junhee said with a smile. He couldn’t believe her. Kris didn’t even trust himself around her, why would she trust him to not do anything in her room?

Kris followed her in anyway.

The room was definitely Junhee; it was clean and neat, with a bed with purple and gold cover pushed into left-hand corner of the room, a big dolphin stuffed animal on top of it, a desk right next to the bed with a laptop on top of it, a big, organized bookshelf on the other side of the room, and a small table in the middle of the room on top of a soft-looking purple rug.

“You must like purple,” was the first thing Kris noted from looking around her room. The walls were painted lavender.

“How could you tell, Mr. Observant?” Junhee asked with a small smile, “You can sit, I’m gonna go change,” she said as she walked through a door that was located right next to the bookshelf, which he figured was a closet or a bathroom or possibly both. He put his bag down right next to the small table in the middle of the room and looked around. He had to admit that it wasn’t his first time being in a girl’s room, but this was definitely the most organized one.

He took a look at the bookshelf and found a lot of manhwa books, some of which were his favorites. He also saw a couple of photo albums, some school books, books about astronomy, and some medical books that looked familiar to him. He read the titles and most of the medical books were the ones he had seen in his father’s bookshelf back in Guangzhou: they were mostly about oncology.

“Found something interesting?” Junhee asked from behind him, making him jump. He could hear her snicker, but he only retaliated by messing her hair up.

“We have more in common than I thought we did,” Kris said.

“Oh, really?” Junhee asked with wide eyes. Kris nodded.

“Naruto is one of my favorite Japanese manhwas… and then I also have this book about galaxies, and I’ve seen a couple of these medical books in my dad’s bookshelf. Tried to read them but couldn’t understand a thing. Do you wanna be a doctor?” Kris asked. He didn’t realize that Junhee had tensed up.

“…not really. I’m just interested in it, but I don’t think I wanna be a doctor.”

“What do you wanna do then?”

“I have _a lot_ of things I wanna do,” Junhee said. She walked towards her desk and took a piece of paper from on top of it. She sat down in front of the small table in the middle of the room and patted the spot beside her. Kris sat down beside her and peeked over her shoulder, “I made a list of things I wanna do before I die two years ago.”

“‘Get married in the same church as my parents’, ’Bungee jumping’, ‘Go to Namsan Tower’, ‘Be in two places at once’? You sure have great imagination,” Kris continued to scan the paper until he saw one thing already crossed out, “’Witness a miracle’… ’Get my first kiss’… that was your first kiss?” Junhee nodded with a blush on her face, “…sorry.”

“No, you don’t have to be!”

“Your first kiss should be special, not forced like I did to you,” Kris said.

“It _was_ special. It was with you, so it was special,” Junhee said as her ears became red.

“Not gonna cut it with me,” Kris said as he moved her hair behind her ears and cupped her cheek, “you deserve better.”

Kris turned her face so she was facing him and leaned in, eyes slightly open to see Junhee’s reaction. When she closed her eyes, he advances and puts his lips softly upon hers. In his opinion, it was better than their real first kiss in the auditorium.

“Better?” Kris asked as he pulled away.

“Kris…” Junhee breathed out. It sounded too much like a moan, in Yifan’s opinion.

“Yifan,” Kris suddenly said so he wouldn’t have time to be affected by her breathy voice.

“Huh?”

“Wu Yifan. That’s my real name.”

“Wait, Kris Wu is not your real name?”

“No, it was a nickname I made after I arrived in Korea.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know. Because you’re my girlfriend and I don’t want you to call me with the same name everybody does, I guess,” Kris – _Yifan_ – said with a blush.

“Okay… Yifan,” Junhee said cautiously. Yifan nodded.

“I like that,” Yifan said as he looked into her eyes.

“Thanks for telling me that. And our first kiss was already special, you don’t have to ‘make it better,’” Junhee said, using air-quotes.

“Fine. But I personally like this kiss better than our previous one,” Yifan said. Junhee laughed as she shook her head. Yifan looked at her as she scanned her wish list once again, “Junhee-yah, let’s go to Namsan together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. What time do you usually finish cleaning in the weekends?”

“Usually around 10 AM, why?”

“I’ll pick you up at 10.30 on Saturday and we’ll go to Namsan together. We’ll take the cable car for the full experience, how does that sound?” Yifan smiled when he saw her face light up even more at the mention of the cable cars.

“That sounds awesome, I can’t wait!”

“Good.”

***

It was Saturday, and Yifan was five minutes early. He was nervous, because if Junhee’s words were true, he had no other choice but to meet her parents. He didn’t bring anything because he was scared of being too cheesy, but now that he was standing right in front of the Kim family house’s door, he almost regretted coming empty handed. He took a deep breath and rang the bell.

“Coming!” said a female voice from behind the door that was unfamiliar to Yifan. He groaned and slapped himself on the forehead. Just his luck. The door opened and revealed a very beautiful woman who somewhat looked like Junhee, Junghae, and Jongin all at the same time that it threw him back a little, “Yes?”

“Um… I’m looking for Junhee…”

“Oh, you must be her boyfriend! Come in, honey, she’ll be with you in a while.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay, ma’am, I can wait here.”

“Nonsense. Junhee can take forever to get ready sometimes. Come in,” her tone left him with no choice but to comply, so he walked inside, albeit reluctantly. He followed Mrs. Kim into the living room and sat down after he was told to, “So… I’m curious. Where are you taking her?”

“Um… I heard that she’s always wanted to go to Namsan, so I thought it would be a good idea to take her there.”

“That’s very thoughtful! Thank you…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself! I’m Kris, Kris Wu.”

“Kris… you’re not Korean, are you?”

“No, mom, he’s Chinese-Canadian, and can you stop the interrogation?” Suddenly Junhee appeared beside her mother and once again Yifan was blown away by how much they looked alike.

“Oh, come on, honey, it’s the first time a boy has come to take you on a date! I have all the right to be a curious mother,” Mrs. Kim said as she ran a hand on Junhee’s arm, “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“If you’re not feeling fine, tell him, okay? I don’t want you to push yourself.”

“I understand. Come on, Yifan,” Junhee said as she walked towards the front door. Yifan stood up and bowed towards Mrs. Kim and followed Junhee. After Mrs. Kim had closed the front door, Yifan walked towards his car and opened the passenger door for Junhee. She smiled at him and went inside the car, and Yifan ran towards the driver door and went inside the car.

“Are you not feeling well?” Yifan asked after he started the car, “If you are, we can take a rain check.”

“I’m fine. I promised mom I’ll tell you if I’m not.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise. Now let’s go! I wanna go to Namsan!” Junhee said excitedly. Yifan chuckled and drove his car out of the Kim family yard and made his way towards Namsan cable car station. When they arrived there, it wasn’t as crowded as Yifan thought it would be, but there were still a lot of people. They entered a cable car and Yifan watched affectionately as Junhee grew excited over everything she saw outside of the car.

After they got off the cable car, Junhee started dragging him every time she saw something beautiful. Yifan didn’t complain, so long as he could see the big smile on her face. They made their way to the tower, and in the elevator, as they watched the video on the roof of the elevator, Yifan linked his fingers through Junhee’s and for some reason, he knew she was blushing.

At the observation deck, Junhee excitedly pointed out that she could see Han River from up there.

“Usually when we have time, me, Junghae and Jongin would go there to cycle,” she said without pulling away from the telescope.

“Han River is also a great place for a date. They’ve got various kinds of restaurants down there. I’ll take you there sometime,” Yifan said. Junhee pulled away from the telescope and smiled at him.

“I can’t wait.”

They continued to the place where they could buy padlocks. Yifan was actually hesitating to go there, considering their relationship was still young, but what’s the point of going to Namsan Tower if you don’t buy padlocks?

“I really like this one,” Junhee suddenly said. She was pointing at a purple and white colored pair of padlocks with their respective keys.

“Huh, it’s purple. I should’ve known,” Yifan said. Junhee pouted at him, “Oh, come on. Don’t give me that look. I never said we can’t buy it.”

Junhee’s pout turned into a grin. She took the set of padlocks and walked towards the register. Before she could reach into her purse to get her wallet, Yifan took his first and paid for it.

“I can pay for that.”

“I asked you on a date. It’s on me,” Yifan said. He took the padlock from the cashier and turned to look at Junhee, who was, once again, pouting. He smiled softly, “I promise next time you can pay for everything if you want.”

“Fine. I’ll ask _you_ on a date next time.”

“I can’t wait,” Yifan said, quoting her earlier. He borrowed two sharpies from the cashier and walked towards the tables while dragging Junhee with him. He gave one of the sharpies to Junhee and he sat down on one chair and started writing on his padlock. He wasn’t good at being cheesy (Junhee would beg to differ, considering the different flowers she received from Yifan), so he was a little stuck as to what to write. He decided to just write what he wanted.

吴亦凡 – 김준희  
평생 함께 ♥  
(Wu Yifan – Kim Junhee  
Together forever ♥)

As cheesy as it was, it was sincere. He peeked at Junhee’s padlock and saw the words she wrote.

♥ 준희 – 이판 ♥  
끝까지 함께하자  
(♥ Junhee – Yifan ♥  
Let’s be together until the end)

She wrote the words so carefully so that the ink didn’t stain the purple-colored heart in the middle of the white padlock. Unlike her, Yifan just wrote on the padlock without caring about the white-colored heart in the middle of his purple padlock.

“You done?” Yifan asked. Junhee nodded, “let’s lock it outside,” Yifan stood up from his seat and extended a hand towards Junhee, who grabbed it and intertwined their fingers together. They went and found a space that was big enough for both of their padlocks and locked them. Afterwards, they took pictures together and left the tower. They were inside the cable car when it happened.

The cable car was strangely, but thankfully, empty. Junhee was looking out the car when she suddenly grabbed her head, groaned, and lost her footing. Before her body touched the floor, Yifan was there to grab her.

“Junhee-yah? Junhee-yah! What’s wrong?!”

They were still so far away from the cable car station, and Junhee was so pale, Yifan wanted to hit himself for not noticing. His right arm was supporting Junhee’s body while his left hand reached for his pocket and took his phone out of it. He searched for Jongin’s number, slower because he had to use his left hand, and dialed it when he found it.

“Come on, Kim Jongin, pick up, pick up, pick up…” he muttered under his breath as he listened to the dial tone.

“Hello?” Jongin’s voice said when he finally picked up.

“Jongin-ah, Junhee passed out,” he decided to just cut to the chase, partly because they almost reached the cable car station, and mainly because he was panicking.

“WHAT?!”

“I’m taking her to the nearest hospital from Namsan…”

“Take her to Seoul Memorial,” Jongin cut him off.

“…fine. I’ll tell you when I get there,” he said as he hung up the phone. He pocketed his phone, took his car keys, and took Junhee in his arms, running off towards his car practically a second after the doors of the cable car opened. He pressed his car remote and a kind stranger thankfully opened the backseat car door for him. He laid Junhee down on the backseat and then he ran towards the driver’s seat.

Yifan was usually careful when it comes to driving; he never broke the speed limit and he always waited patiently at the traffic light. Today, obeying those rules was not an option. He needed to get Junhee some help, fast. After he arrived at Seoul Memorial Hospital, he stopped his car in front of the emergency room door and stepped off the car. He ran towards the emergency door and tried to find someone who looked like either a nurse or a doctor.

“Excuse me!” he said when he saw someone in doctor’s whites and grabbed the doctor’s arm, “My girlfriend suddenly passed out. She’s in my car. Please help her!”

The doctor nodded and ran with Yifan towards his car. He opened the backseat door and brought Junhee inside. He called Jongin that he was in Namsan Hospital and could only wait as the doctors check his girlfriend.

“Duìzhǎng!”

Yifan looked at the direction of the emergency room door and saw Jongin, Junghae, Mrs. Kim, and, presumably, Mr. Kim running towards him. He bowed towards the Kim parents and they bowed back.

“What happened, oppa?” Junghae asked.

“I don’t know… she didn’t say anything about being sick or anything, but when we were going down, she passed out in the cable car.”

“God, I knew she wasn’t in good shape…” Jongin muttered under his breath, but Yifan could still hear him.

“…what’s wrong with her?” Yifan asked to no one in particular, but still expecting an answer. He raised both of his hands in defense, “I practically forced myself into her life, so I don’t think I have the right to know, but still… she’s my girlfriend, and I like her very much. I just… wanna know what’s wrong with her.”

No one dared to look at him. Yifan tried to catch Jongin or Junghae’s eyes, but they avoided his gaze.

“Kris, please don’t think badly of us,” Mrs. Kim opened her mouth, “Junhee had told us not to tell you because she said she wanted to tell you herself. And she will, when she’s ready.”

“Sorry, hyung…” Jongin said, looking down at his feet. Yifan never realized that it was the first time Jongin had ever called him ‘hyung’.

“…why Seoul Memorial?” Yifan asked.

“All of Junhee’s medical record is here. It would be easier to treat her in a place where everyone’s familiar with her,” Mrs. Kim explained.

“So this is not the first time this happened?” Mrs. Kim shook her head. Yifan heaved a big sigh and ran a hand over his face. A couple of minutes later, a doctor came up to them.

“She’s fine. It was one of her dizzy spells, but she should take it easy today,” the doctor said, “She just woke up and asked for her boyfriend?”

Yifan looked at Junhee’s parents, and they nodded. He bowed at them and walked with the doctor. It was like déjà vu, seeing Junhee so helpless and vulnerable on top of a hospital gurney; just like the play. He sat down on the side of her bed where there was no IV drip and took her hand in his. Junhee turned her head to look at him and smiled weakly.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hi.”

“Sorry to scare you like that… I thought I would make it home before I pass out, but I guess the headache got the better of me.”

“It’s fine,” Yifan said as he squeezed Junhee’s hand. He wanted to ask, but he didn’t know how.

“You wanna know why I’m like this, don’t you?” Junhee asked, “It’s actually the same reason why I didn’t want you – or anyone, for that matter – to fall in love with me.”

Yifan looked straight into Junhee’s eyes and said, “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”

“I don’t think I’m ever gonna be ready, so might as well get it out now,” Junhee said, “Yifan, I’m… dying. I have leukemia and I’ve stopped responding to my treatments.”

Yifan honestly hoped to God he didn’t believe in that Junhee said it wrong or that he was hallucinating. There was no way that the tough girl who scared him the first time they formally met was dying of _cancer_. He would never wish that on his worst enemy, let alone the girl he loved.

“The doctors were too late in finding it; mainly because I was too stubborn to go to the hospital. When they found out two years ago, I was already at the third stage. I didn’t want people to know, so I told my parents and my siblings to treat me normally, like I was healthy. And now I’m going to ask you the same thing,” Junhee said as she squeezed his hand tightly, “Yifan, please, _please_ don’t treat me like I’m dying. I kept my distance from people who may want to date me by acting like a stereotypical nerd because I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want to get any special treatment, so I never told anyone. I had such a great time at our date today, and I wanted to keep you in the dark as long as I could, but you deserve to know.”

“…what do you want me to do, then?”

“Just treat me like you usually do. Don’t treat me like I’m sick; I’m fine,” Junhee said. Yifan hesitated. How was he supposed to act like everything was fine after finding out that his girlfriend was _dying_? But she looked at him with such desperation, that he couldn’t help but nod. Acting normal was worth the smile on her face. He kissed the back of her hand that he was holding.

“Okay.”

***

A couple of months after his date with Junhee at Namsan Tower, Yifan once again found himself in Seoul Memorial Hospital. He was not there for Junhee, though. He was standing right outside a door, taking deep breaths before knocking. When a male voice told him to come in, he opened the door and went inside.

“Kris Wu… for what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?” Baekhyun asked with the most sarcastic tone Yifan had ever heard. Now he knew why Junghae and Baekhyun were so good together; they were both sarcastic bastards.

“How’s your head?” Yifan asked.

“Fine, no thanks to you.”

Yifan sighed. He didn’t expect anything less from the victim of his crimes. He put the fruit basket Junhee and Junghae had helped pick on top of a table. He sat on the chair right next to the bed and lowered his head.

“Look… I’m sorry,” Yifan said as he looked down at his lap. He didn’t dare to look at Baekhyun.

“…huh?”

Yifan looked up and at Baekhyun, who looked perplexed. Yifan frowned.

“I said I was sorry.”

“…who are you and what have you done to Kris Wu? The Kris Wu I knew would never, I repeat, never apologize. He doesn’t know the word sorry even if it hit him in the face.”

“Well, the Kris Wu you knew wasn’t dating Kim Junhee yet.”

Baekhyun widened his eyes, “Junghae told me Junhee-noona was dating you; I thought she was kidding!”

Yifan frowned, “That’s offensive. Why wouldn’t she?”

“I mean, she never liked you! She always said how pretentious and dirty you are. She avoided you like a plague for _ever_!”

“Now that’s _super_ offensive. Do you even have a brain-to-mouth filter?”

“I only quoted Junhee-noona!” Baekhyun said with a pout. Yifan was silently glad that at least the atmosphere between them became more bearable than before, “…glad to see that she’s changed you for the better, though.”

“Same here,” Yifan said with a smile. He then stood up, “Well, that’s all I’m here for. Get well soon, Byun.”

“Yeah… thanks.”

Yifan smiled for the last time and left the room. He walked outside the hospital and smiled, “There, I did it. _Now_ can we go where I wanna take you?”

Junhee smiled at him, “Fine. Lead the way, kind sir,” Junhee said as she took Yifan’s arm. Yifan smiled at her and walked with her towards his car. He opened the passenger seat door for her and went to the driver’s seat, “Where are we going?” Junhee asked.

“What did I say before we went to the hospital?”

“That it was a surprise.”

“Then wait,” Yifan said with a teasing smile. Junhee pouted but Yifan only laughed and drove. From the corner of his eyes, Yifan could see Junhee looking outside and looking back at him with a frown, but Yifan only smiled knowingly. He stopped his car after an hour of driving and parked it at the side of the road. He walked out of the car and opened Junhee’s door for her.

“Where are we?”

“You’ll know. Come here,” Yifan said as he dragged Junhee near a big stone near the car. He instructed her to stand facing the street with the rock behind her. Junhee was frowning the whole time Yifan told her to position her feet. Yifan smiled and said, “We’re in the border between Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. One half of your body’s in Seoul, and the other’s in Gwacheon.”

Junhee widened her eyes in realization, and then she burst out laughing, “Oh my God, I can’t believe you thought of that!” Junhee said. Yifan took a piece of paper from his pocket and a pen. He opened it and crossed ‘Be in two places at once’ from Junhee’s bucket list.

“We’re gonna spend all day today fulfilling your wishes,” Yifan said, looking straight at Junhee’s eyes, “I know you’ll feel like I’m giving you a special treatment because you’re sick, but I want you to know that even if I never find out about your illness, I’ll still do this. I’ll do everything in my power to fulfill everything you wish for.”

So they spent the day driving from one place to another (with Yifan asking every five minutes if she was okay; he stopped after she smacked the back of his head), crossing one thing from the bucket list as they go until what was left were two things on the list: ‘Get married in the same church as my parents’ and ‘witness a miracle’. Yifan was going to make sure that happened.

***

Yifan should never have let his guard down, otherwise, he wouldn’t have to stand in front of his father’s residence in Guangzhou, ready to put away all of his pride for the sake of one dying girl he loved more than his own life. It pained him to leave Junhee. He wanted to ask Sehun to go in his place, since his younger brother had better relationship with their father than he did, but he knew he had to do this alone.

“Yifan?”

“Lǎo bà…” Yifan said with bloodshot eyes. He couldn’t care less about how he looked after he cried ever since he left Junhee, who fainted at school, in the hospital. He could tell from the look on the doctor’s face that she was getting worse.

“What are you doing here?”

Yifan went straight to his knees and let another stray tear out, “Lǎo bà, please. I know I haven’t been a good son to you, but please… please help Junhee…”

His father was silent for a while, and then he said, “Lift your head up, son.”

Yifan lifted his head, but didn’t stand up from his position.

“Shixun told me everything,” his father said, “about you and your girlfriend, and her illness… even to this day, I couldn’t believe his words about how much you changed for that girl. But seeing you here, I can tell that she’s very precious to you, isn’t she?”

Yifan nodded, “…more than anything.”

“I know. You would never have thrown away your pride and go down on your knees and beg for my help if it wasn’t for her. I’ll have to thank her someday.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Yifan, I’ve called my colleague in Seoul Memorial yesterday. I’ve arranged a private home care for Kim Junhee. I’m going to pay for all of it.”

Yifan looked up straight into his father’s eyes in shock, “…are you serious?” to which his father only nodded. Yifan stood up and, for the first time in his teenage life, hugged his father tightly. He couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed the warmth of his father’s body against his. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt the need of having his father beside him. Now he remembered. As he reminisced, he broke down in his father’s arms.

“I’m going to pay you back one day,” Yifan said to his father as he pulled away.

“Just make sure that you’re both happy, son. That’s all I can ask of you.”

***

It was a beautiful autumn day.

Wu Yifan was nervous; more than when he was about to face exams, or basketball tournaments, or spring festival play. He looked around the church and smiled. His wife-to-be made a great choice of choosing the church where her parents got married in for their own wedding; the place was beautiful.

His senses were filled with Kim Junhee the second he saw her being pushed in a wheelchair through the big wooden door.

He could only see her in her wedding dress, with her sickly pale face hidden underneath a veil as she tried her best to stand up from her wheelchair; he could only hear the heels of her shoes hitting the floor one by one as she took small, careful steps towards him in her very frail body with her father’s arm in hers; he could only feel his palms starting to sweat as he saw Junhee almost tripping; he could only smell the sweet smell of lavender, Junhee’s favorite flower, from her bouquet, as she reached his side in front of the minister.

She might not look as fierce as when he first met her, but in his eyes, she was still the strongest, most beautiful girl he had ever seen before in his life.

“You look beautiful,” Yifan whispered when their eyes met. Junhee smiled weakly at him.

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we? I’m kinda tired,” Junhee said pretty loudly. Yifan and the other attendees chuckled. She was still feisty even with the state of her body.

The minister nodded and proceeded with the ceremony. Yifan was only half listening to the minister’s words, as he was too focused on imprinting Junhee in his memory, as if she was going to disappear any moment. Somehow, he could still say ‘I do’ at the right time. He couldn’t control his smile when he heard the same words came out of Junhee’s mouth.

“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Yifan carefully lifted the veil and gazed into the eyes he loved so much. He caressed his wife’s soft cheek with a careful hand, and then he leaned in to put a soft kiss on her mouth, which was reciprocated with her arms around his neck pulling him in deeper. When he pulled away, before she could protest, he lifted Junhee up in his arms and made his way outside the church. Even though she kept hitting his chest lightly, demanding to be put down, Yifan paid no heed to her complaints.

“Go throw your bouquet, darling,” Yifan said as he carefully set Junhee down.

“Are you going to go mushy on me now, _sweetie_?” Junhee asked, emphasizing on the pet name. She turned her back towards the crowd and closed her eyes. She threw her lavender bouquet backwards with all her might and laughed when she heard Meitao squeal and Sehun groan.

“Make an honest man out of my brother, Huang!” Yifan said as he lifted Junhee up once again to enter their wedding car. They laughed when Meitao flashed them an okay sign.

Yifan let Junhee rest her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the crown of her head as the car sped up. When it stopped in front of their high school, Junhee frowned.

It had been a miracle that Junhee survived until her twentieth birthday. She was considerably weaker, but she never lost her will to live. Even Yifan’s father thought that it was a miracle she was still alive. The second she turned twenty, Yifan proposed to her. Yifan’s father was very much against the marriage, as he thought that Junhee didn’t have long to live, and in a short period of time, Yifan would be left alone. But after a long talk with his son, he eventually caved.

“What are we doing here?” Junhee asked as she was wheeled into the auditorium.

“I just wanna reminisce for a bit. It’s been a while since we’ve been here,” Yifan said. He wheeled her until they reached the stage and then he sat her down on the edge of the stage and let her lean her head on his shoulder once he sat beside her, “Do you remember when we first met?”

Junhee chuckled, “I do. I hated your guts.”

“Baekhyun said the same thing,” Yifan said. Junghae and Baekhyun had sung a beautiful duet as a wedding gift on their bachelor and bachelorette party (which Chanyeol had insisted on happening. Yixue also insisted on it – dating Chanyeol had been a bad influence on her, in Junhee’s opinion)

“He was always there whenever I rant about you. He even told me that eventually my hate would turn into love since I never stopped talking about you.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

“I’ve always kept you in a distance… because I don’t wanna get hurt. Now that the distance is gone, I’m still afraid.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t wanna hurt you. And I will.”

“…”

“Will you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“I know that I’m going to hurt you eventually… will you forgive me?”

Yifan let the tears that were filling up his eyes fall. He tearfully kissed the top of Junhee’s head with all the love he could muster for her. He leaned his head on hers and nodded against it, “You don’t have to apologize for anything. Thank you for bringing me happiness.”

***

Four years had passed, and Yifan was now an intern in Seoul Memorial.

Two weeks after their marriage, Junhee finally succumbed to her illness in her sleep, with Yifan’s left arm as her pillow. Yifan sent her off with a smile, just like the one embedded forever in her eternal sleep when he woke up.

Before Junhee came into his life, Yifan didn’t know what to do with his life. He was not exactly the most diligent student, but he could brag about getting an A in a test with his own efforts. He wasn’t particularly interested in anything besides Junhee. But after Junhee’s illness grew worse, he started asking his father about oncology, and he figured that if he couldn’t save the love of his life, he might as well save other people’s.

And now, he was in front of Kim residence. After Junhee’s death, Mr. Kim had expressed his initial objection over their marriage, and asked Yifan for proof that he really loved her, even when Junhee wasn’t around anymore. Yifan had yet to visit that house again since their marriage, since he felt that he had nothing to prove.

But now, he could show his father-in-law that he was trying his hardest so that no one would end up like him, or like the Kim family, having lost someone very precious to them. Yifan felt so accomplished when he finally saw how proud Mr. Kim looked when he finished telling him what happened in his internship.

“I found this… in Junhee’s room,” Mr. Kim said as he pulled out a familiar piece of paper from his pocket. Junhee’s bucket list, “I noticed that there’s one thing she hasn’t crossed out here,” he said as he pointed towards ‘witness a miracle’ in the list.

Yifan looked down and scratched the back of his neck, “Yeah, I didn’t manage to fulfill that. I drew up a blank on that,” he said.

“…do you have a pen on you?”

Yifan frowned and handed his father-in-law the pen that never left his breast pocket. He frowned even deeper when Mr. Kim crossed out the ‘witness a miracle’ in Junhee’s list.

“I think… she’s seen a miracle, but she just didn’t realize it yet.”

“Pardon?”

“You, Yifan. I’ve heard stories about you from the PTA, since Junhee’s mother was also part of it. But the man I’m seeing right in front of me right now is not the boy who sent someone to the hospital because of a silly prank. I see a man who changed into a better person after meeting my daughter. I’d call that a miracle.”

Yifan made his way home after spending some more time with his father-in-law. He asked Mr. Kim for the bucket list and made his way towards a place that was way too familiar for his liking. When he found the tombstone with some wilted lavender on it, he smiled.

“I haven’t been here for a while, have I? I’m sorry,” he said as he replaced the flowers with new ones. For the first time since their wedding, Yifan smiled so wide, his gum showed. He pulled the now finished bucket list out of his pocket, laid it on top of Junhee’s tombstone, and said, “We’ve done it. All this time, we’ve actually finished the list. I wish you knew that your list was all done, but I think you know that already, right?”

Yifan looked up at the orange sky and closed his eyes when the wind blew. He smiled.

“…I love you.”


End file.
